Courses Approved to Meet BON Stipulations

If your Board Order requires you to complete a nursing jurisprudence and ethics course, you may attend one of the Board's “Protecting Your Patients and Your Practice” workshops and receive credit for completion of the course. Other BON Special Topic workshops or offerings do not provide credit for the requirement.

Courses Provided by Other Vendors

The Board has approved the following remedial education course providers. More information on the approval process and requirements is available in the education section.

Should you take this course, you must send a copy of the Verification of Completion form to the Board in order to receive credit. Click here to download a Verification of Completion form ( pdf) or one may be requested from the BON Enforcement Department (512/305-6838). Please bring this form to the workshop for staff to sign at the end of the day.Send the form to: BON, ATTN: Monitoring, 333 Guadalupe, Ste. 3-460; Austin, Texas 78701-3944.

IMPORTANT - Please be aware that courses provided by other vendors are not given on a continuous basis and that most Board Orders require courses to be completed within one (1) year from the effective date of the Board Order. The following approved course providers must be contacted directly regarding the courses they offer.

Courses Provided by Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services - The following courses are offered at various times and locations throughout the state. Click on any of the following courses to see when and where they are offered and to complete online registration.

Fines, Monitoring Fees, and Administrative Reimbursement

If payment of a fine, fee, or reimbursement is a requirement of your Board Order, the payment must be submitted by cashier's check or U.S. Money Order payable to the Texas Board of Nursing. Refer to the terms of your Order to determine within how many days after the Order’s effective date that the payment must be received at the Board’s office and submit with your payment the appropriate Board Order Billing Form for a fine, monitoring fee, or an administrative reimbursement with the payment.

Employment

Board Orders may include a variety of nursing employment requirements that typically last for a period of at least one (1) year. When nursing employment requirements are incorporated into Board Orders, they allow nurses to demonstrate proficiencies and skills so that employers, patients, and the public at large can be reassured of safe nursing practice, and they frequently include:

When a Notification of Employment form is received, the Board notes that the nurse has become employed and then sends the nurse the specific performance reporting forms with their due dates so that the nurse’s compliance with the Order can be documented. Due dates for reports are either the 15th or the last day of each month and reports will only be accepted if received within two weeks before or after the specified due date. Additionally, all employment reports must be submitted directly to the Board by the supervisor who completed the report, and reports are credited only if a nurse works continuously with the same employer for the entire three (3) month period. Accordingly, performance reports reflecting periods of only one (1) or two (2) months do not result in credit for that quarter.

Drug Screening While Employed as a Nurse

Under the terms of some Board Orders, nurses who are employed in nursing positions are required to submit to periodic random drug screens with RecoveryTrek, and the following information regarding the RecoveryTrek drug testing procedures is provided to assist each testing participate to maintain compliance with the requirements of the program and successfully complete his/her Board Order. Refer to the instructions for drug screen collection for complete RecoveryTrek enrollment and testing details.

Testing for Alcohol Consumption

When nurses must submit to periodic random drug screens, the terms of each Board Order require these nurses to abstain completely from the consumption of alcohol, and the testing procedure utilized by RecoveryTrek to detect the presence of metabolites produced by the body following consumption of alcohol is much more sensitive and capable of detecting both smaller amounts of alcohol consumption and alcohol consumption that occurred further in the past than the testing previously utilized by the Board.

The requirement to abstain completely from the consumption of alcohol applies to alcoholic beverages as well as any product containing alcohol. To eliminate the risk of testing positive for alcohol consumption, these nurses are directed to abstain from using all products which contain any alcohol, including certain over-the-counter medications such as liquid Nyquil and other cough medications, alcohol-based mouthwashes, vanilla extract, “non-alcoholic” beer (which may contain up to 0.5% alcohol), alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and any other product which contains alcohol. It is the responsibility of these nurses to ensure that they refrain from using such products and a positive test for alcohol or alcohol metabolites will not be excused by the use of these products. Further, these nurses must be advised that a positive screen for alcohol could lead to the immediate suspension of their nursing licenses.

Testing for Drugs

The terms of these Orders also require nurses to abstain from the use of controlled substances, Nubain, Stadol, Dalgan, Ultram, and other synthetic opiates, except as prescribed by licensed practitioners for legitimate purposes. If prescribed any of these substances, nurses are required to notify the Board of the prescription and cause their healthcare providers to submit written reports identifying the medication, dosage, and the date the medication was prescribed within 10 days of the date of the prescription. Failure to submit this notification to the Board may be considered a violation of the Board Order terms and could result in further disciplinary action. Furthermore, a positive screen for any of these substances without a legitimate prescription could lead to the immediate suspension of the nursing license(s).

Randomized Screening and Missed Screens

Nurses submitting to drug screens are required to check in with RecoveryTrek each and every day, to determine whether they have been selected to test, and to submit to drug screens the same day on which they have been selected. It is the responsibility of each participant to be aware of the testing hours at his/her chosen lab and to leave enough time after check-in to submit a test.

Board Orders typically identify quarterly time periods during which testing frequency decreases over time. For instance, the most common testing schedule is:

“For the first three month period, random screens shall be performed at least once per week.

For the next three month period, random screens shall be performed at least twice per month.

For the next six month period, random screens shall be performed at least once per month.”

Although this is the most common testing schedule in Board Orders, nurses who must submit drug screens must do so according to the specific terms of their individual Board Order.

Further, participants should note the added emphasis on the term “at least” and be aware that the process for selecting testing dates is random and may result in more than one selection within any given period. For instance, during any period of monthly testing it is possible that more than one random test date may be scheduled. Accordingly, nurses must continue to check in with RecoveryTrek each and every day and provide a sample whenever they are selected, regardless of whether a test has previously been scheduled in the testing period. Additionally, participants must be aware that failure to submit a sample for testing on a selected day is grounds for further disciplinary and may lead to the immediate suspension of the nursing license(s).

Because the Board’s mission is to protect and promote the welfare of the people of Texas, and because noncompliance with Board-ordered drug testing may be considered to be a serious threat to the public health and safety, the Board is authorized under the Nursing Practice Act1 to temporarily suspend the license(s) of a nurse who submits a positive drug screen for alcohol or a prohibited drug or fails to submit to a drug test under a Board Order. The Board is authorized to initiate such suspension proceedings without any prior notice to the nurse.

The consequences that could result from a positive drug screen or missed test are serious. Therefore, these nurses should carefully avoid any products containing alcohol, provide the Board with timely notification of any prescriptions that have received, and submit to drug testing on each day they are selected. Doing so will help these nurses to successfully complete their Board Orders.

Other Reports

Board Orders may include a variety of other required reporting, including submission of probation reports, therapy reports, and support group attendance records. The requirements for submitting each of these other reports vary according to the type of report, and these nurses must submit their reports according to the detailed instructions specified in each of their Board Orders.

Reinstatement Information

Nurses whose licenses have been revoked or surrendered may not petition for reinstatement of licensure until at least one (1) year after their Order was issued. To petition for reinstatement, nurses must complete and submit a Petition for Reinstatement of License along with all required supporting documentation, examples of which are included in the form's detailed instructions. Along with the completed Petition, nurses must also submit evidence of having completed 20 contact hours of continuing nursing education meeting the Board's requirements, provide evidence they would be safe practitioners, and complete a federal background check by following the applicable instructions either for Texas residents or for non-Texas residents. Nurses seeking reinstatement must wait at least two (2) weeks after submitting completed Petitions before they can complete required federal background checks.

Evidence indicating each nurse would be safe to practice is required before any license can be considered for reinstatement. Although the determination about what specific evidence to submit is up to the individual, examples of such evidence include letters from psychiatrists, doctors, employers, counselors, support group members, etc., and all such letters must contain the full name and return address of the writer so the information may be verified.

Board Rules that nurses should review prior to submitting Petitions for Reinstatement of Licensure include:

Criteria and Procedure Regarding Intemperate Use and Lack of Fitness in Eligibility and Disciplinary Matters Rule 213.29.

Once the completed Petition and all required materials have been received, nurses seeking reinstatement are required to appear at informal conferences, which may not be scheduled until the completed Petition and all required supporting documentation has been received. Informal conferences are conducted at the Board's offices and nurses are typically informed as to whether their petition has been approved or denied at the conclusion of each conference.